With caveat, UMass board authorizes 4.9% hike in tuition, fees

Despite a pledge by University of Massachusetts officials to freeze tuition and fees over the next two years, students throughout its five-campus system may still see an increase of up to 4.9 percent in those charges on their upcoming tuition bills. The UMass Board of Trustees on Wednesday morning vote...

Despite a pledge by University of Massachusetts officials to freeze tuition and fees over the next two years, students throughout its five-campus system may still see an increase of up to 4.9 percent in those charges on their upcoming tuition bills.

The UMass Board of Trustees on Wednesday morning voted to authorize the increase, just in case the university doesn’t get the $479 million state contribution for fiscal 2014 it seeks, according to a statement from board Chairman Henry Thomas.

In fiscal 2013, UMass received $439 million in state aid.

The UMass officials sought a $39 million funding increase from the state. The state budget recommended by the state House of Representatives and Gov. Deval Patrick would meet that request, with $479 million going to UMass.

But the budget the Senate passed increases state funding for UMass only to $455 million, according to the State House News Service.

UMass officials have said the university would be able to freeze tuition and the mandatory curriculum fees if it gets the full $39 million increase. That increase would level students’ and the state’s financial investment in education to 50-50.

“For a year now, we have been working to achieve a situation where we would be able to freeze tuition and mandatory fees. And with the Legislature’s support and the governor’s continued support, we will be able to achieve that goal,” UMass President Robert Caret said.

“My preferred option would be to keep tuition and mandatory fees at current rates,” he said.

“We are sensitive to the financial struggles of working-class students and their families who are striving to continue with their education. Achieving the 50-50 plan will enable the university to keep fees reasonable and higher education opportunities accessible to students,” University of Massachusetts Dartmouth chancellor Divina Grossman.

According to the State House News Service, the share of the cost to run educational programs throughout the UMass system has shifted over the past five years, with students and families now paying 57 percent of that cost, and the state covering 43 percent. Five years ago, those shares were reversed.

State funding for UMass has been flat during the past 15 years. According to a UMass press release, in 2000, the state funded the system at $456 million, $17 million higher than in the past fiscal year.

But enrollment throughout the five-campus system has increased – from 56,995 students in the fall of 1997 to 70,774 last fall. Of those students, 75 percent will graduate with student loan debt. The average UMass student incurs a debt close to $28,500.

Should tuition and fees increase, the exact amount of those increases would be tied to the level of state funding.

At UMass Dartmouth the total number of undergraduate and graduate students who enrolled in the fall of 1997 was 6,366. That number grew to 9,225 this past fall.

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In-state students paid a total of $11,046 in tuition and curriculum fees for the past school year. Out-of-state students paid $22,393.

University officials will render a final decision in July, before sending out bills to students.

A six-member conference committee is working out a final consensus on the state’s $34 budget bill, with a decision expected by July 1.